Thank you for help during car fire

December 5, 2013

We enjoy traveling to see family in other states and towns, yet always feel comfort returning home.

On this particular Thanksgiving holiday, my son and I have so much to be grateful for.

On Saturday, we left family in New England, traveled the Mass Pike, the Adirondack Northway, then up the "Keene Hill" towards home.

At the crest of the hill, our car inexplicably shut off. I was able to steer it into a parking area where AAA was called and we waited for help to arrive. My son noticed white smoke coming from the hood of the car, so we exited then moved away from the vehicle only to watch the smoke turn from white to grey then to black. A passing motorist, Cassandra Anderson, who was on her way to work at the Mirror Lake Inn, stopped to see if we needed help. She insisted we get into her car in order to get a safe distance away from ours. It is a good thing she was persistent, because not 10 minutes later, we watched as the car caught on fire and became engulfed in flames.

She not only brought us to safety, but she put her boots on my son's feet and offered us comfort, reassurance and warmth.

In the meantime, help was most certainly on the way. It came in the form of state trooper Daniel Gordon, longtime friend John Marshall, the Lake Placid Volunteer Fire Department (including many former sixth grade students whom I am so very proud of), the Keene Volunteer Fire Department, Jay Strack of Central Garage, Chris Covert and countless others who helped even without us knowing. The outpouring of support from my colleagues and students, friends and neighbors has been overwhelming.

We love where we live and this is a big reason why. Thank you again to all who came to our rescue.